What is the amount of rain that permits combining the prayers?
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The questioner : To complete the question, combining the prayers on rainy days, when does the combining take place?
The Shaykh : The question: May Allah reward you, it was about the rain.
The questioner : When is combining permissible, because there is disagreement and we do not know when it is permissible?
Another questioner: What is the measure of the rain?
Another questioner: When does combining take place on rainy days? Does light rain mean that combining is permissible?
The Shaykh : Is this what you mean?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : All right, the answer: If the rain is heavy and it hinders the usual travel and the affairs of the people, then in this case it is prescribed or permitted to combine. Estimating or defining this situation cannot be done by every individual Muslim, but rather it is left to the imam who combines or separates. Even if this imam is lenient such that the ground gets wet from the rain, especially in some hot countries where the ground gets wet here and evaporates there, there is no harm in that. I want to say that if the imam combines due to the falling of rain, he is followed in that, because calculating and scrutinizing the type of rain is not something in which every person participates, nor is it something in which opinions can agree. There is a hadith that, if it were authentic, would be the definitive answer to the issue, but in the authentic collections it is not authentic. Therefore, we said that the matter involves some research and independent legal reasoning, and opinions may differ on it. That hadith is the one that says: If the sandals get wet, it simply means that some rain has fallen on the ground, and this falling permits a person not to make the effort to leave the mosque. Accordingly, if rain has fallen and people are praying, for example, the midday prayer, they can combine the afternoon prayer with it, or if they are praying the sunset prayer, they can combine the night prayer with it, merely due to the rain falling. As for having a precise measure for the ratio, quantity, density, or heaviness of the rain, we have no explicit text that defines this matter for us. So the ruling ultimately lies with the imam, and the imam is supposed to have knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence, and he is the one who determines whether it is the time to permit combining or not. This is what can be mentioned on this occasion, otherwise there is no explicit text to define the answer to the question mentioned.
The questioner : If I were an imam, how would I know when to combine?
The Shaykh : The rains fall.
The questioner : If it rains and the streets become flooded at that time, am I permitted to combine?
The Shaykh : Look, we have two cases. The first case is what I just said: this is the mosque, we prayed the midday prayer, and then the rains occurred, so we combine because the rains are falling. This first case is clear and does not need discussion. But suppose the rains fell before the prayer and then stopped, and we prayed the midday prayer and there are no rains, then at that time we look at the reality of the ground we are in, for example, not at the falling of rain, because there is no falling now in this second case. If the grounds are as they are in many countries today, as if you are walking on a mirror or on clean rock, with no hindrance to travel, no dirt, or anything else, then at that time there is no longer an excuse for combining. But if there is mud, as was the case in the early period in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then these matters can be estimated and considered a reason for combining the two prayers.
In summary: There are issues that the Wise Lawgiver has not defined their forms such that they are clear to all people. So here, independent legal reasoning and applying thought are necessary, and this returns, as I said earlier, to the opinion of the imam, who is the one who determines whether it is the time for combining or not.
The Shaykh : The question: May Allah reward you, it was about the rain.
The questioner : When is combining permissible, because there is disagreement and we do not know when it is permissible?
Another questioner: What is the measure of the rain?
Another questioner: When does combining take place on rainy days? Does light rain mean that combining is permissible?
The Shaykh : Is this what you mean?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : All right, the answer: If the rain is heavy and it hinders the usual travel and the affairs of the people, then in this case it is prescribed or permitted to combine. Estimating or defining this situation cannot be done by every individual Muslim, but rather it is left to the imam who combines or separates. Even if this imam is lenient such that the ground gets wet from the rain, especially in some hot countries where the ground gets wet here and evaporates there, there is no harm in that. I want to say that if the imam combines due to the falling of rain, he is followed in that, because calculating and scrutinizing the type of rain is not something in which every person participates, nor is it something in which opinions can agree. There is a hadith that, if it were authentic, would be the definitive answer to the issue, but in the authentic collections it is not authentic. Therefore, we said that the matter involves some research and independent legal reasoning, and opinions may differ on it. That hadith is the one that says:
If the sandals get wet, then pray in your places
إذا ابتلت النعال فالصلاة في الرحالThe questioner : If I were an imam, how would I know when to combine?
The Shaykh : The rains fall.
The questioner : If it rains and the streets become flooded at that time, am I permitted to combine?
The Shaykh : Look, we have two cases. The first case is what I just said: this is the mosque, we prayed the midday prayer, and then the rains occurred, so we combine because the rains are falling. This first case is clear and does not need discussion. But suppose the rains fell before the prayer and then stopped, and we prayed the midday prayer and there are no rains, then at that time we look at the reality of the ground we are in, for example, not at the falling of rain, because there is no falling now in this second case. If the grounds are as they are in many countries today, as if you are walking on a mirror or on clean rock, with no hindrance to travel, no dirt, or anything else, then at that time there is no longer an excuse for combining. But if there is mud, as was the case in the early period in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then these matters can be estimated and considered a reason for combining the two prayers.
In summary: There are issues that the Wise Lawgiver has not defined their forms such that they are clear to all people. So here, independent legal reasoning and applying thought are necessary, and this returns, as I said earlier, to the opinion of the imam, who is the one who determines whether it is the time for combining or not.